It All Started With A Mouse

Our trip to California was great! We had a blast and made it home safely very early Thursday morning. I still haven't adjusted to eastern time but luckily I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. I took so many great photos it was hard to cut it down to a reasonable number. I will do a separate post about the San Diego portion of our trip and of course my sister's big wedding, which was a fairytale of course!


Here are some highlights of the Disneyland part of our trip:

Mickey's the star of the show.

Our first day there the kids had to get a picture with the giant Mickey statue in front of the Disneyland hotel. We stayed off site but when we go back we will definitely stay on site. Since my sister's wedding was at the Disneyland hotel, she was upgraded to a two room suite with a view of the fireworks. It was very nice and the resort property amenities including the pool, grounds, and restaurant, in addition to the location in the middle of the action, make it worth the extra money. We did stay walking distance from the park which was great though!

Princesses can come in the form of kitty cats too.

All three kids saved for this trip and in about 15 months the three kids had managed to save $1000 of their own money. Not too shabby for 9 and 7 year olds. They helped buy the park admission tickets and had considerable spending money for souvenirs and treats. FiFi used her money not only to buy the signature Mickey ears and autograph book but to get her face painted. Too cute!

You're never too old take a picture with a mouse (be it Minnie or Mickey)

My mom went with us to Disneyland our first day in the park and she was excited to get her mouse ears and picture with Minnie Mouse.

For little girls, there is nothing better than meeting a real life princess.

We did a character breakfast two days after the wedding, the morning before the bride and groom headed off on their honeymoon. It is always such a great experience and worth the extra money. You can leisurely sit back, enjoy yummy food buffet style, and wait as characters make the rounds to your table to pose with your kids and sign autographs. This is Wyn, FiFi, and the groom's niece with Mulan.

Bears don't sign autographs, they'll eat the books!

Nothing better than a family photo with Kenai and Koda in California Adventure.

When on a Disney vacation, it is ok to have fun, smile, and put your arm around your favorite brother or sister.

Pluto was a tough guy to find. On our third day in the parks the kids finally tracked him down in Toon Town for his autograph and some photos.

And what's a trip to Disneyland without a photo in front of the mouse made of flowers at the front of the park. Every trip my sister and I took as a kid to Disneyland we have one of these photos.

Our trip really was great. Traveling with 3 kids across 3 time zones and fitting in 3 days at Disney, 2 days at the beach, visiting with family, and of course my sister's wedding and all the other wedding festivities was a bit crazy. There wasn't much time for relaxing but we had a ton of fun!

If you are planning a trip to Disneyland anytime in the future I would highly recommend The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland by Bob Sehlinger. I checked it out from my public library 3 separate times, copied the touring plans in the back, and even brought it with me. Even with the park busy with spring break travelers and a 30,000 person dance/cheer convention in town the longest lines we waited in were food lines. Most rides we waited 5-10 minutes for, the only ride we waited 15 minutes for was Gadget Go Coaster and the kids gave up Minnie and Mickey's house for that. We rode every major attraction at both parks except Nemo's Submarines at Disneyland and Toy Story Mania at California Adventure. In addition to rides we saw the Pixar Play Parade at DCA, The Aladdin Broadway play, Disneyland Fireworks, Jedi Training Academy, Pixie Hollow, and met tons of characters. The two things we did miss, the lines just never went down and we decided we had a full, fun trip and just enjoyed everything else. Seriously, the touring plans made a huge difference!
No waiting in lines!

More about San Diego and my sister's wedding soon! I missed you ladies. I'm glad to be back to blogging.